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To work hard and achieve what you want is not just an admired way of life, but an imperative in a capitalist society.

The reason I have a hard time following this command is not because I lack the discipline to work hard, but because I don’t really want anything. Or, at least, the things I want I do not genuinely want. Wealth, honor, power, respect… well yeah, it would be nice to have these things. But I’m not moved by an insatiable urge to get as rich and powerful as possible. In fact, not a lot of things move me to desperate action. Hunger may be. Most other things I can just live without, as long as I have my loving family, means to support myself and my family, and a bit of free time to relax.

The way the society makes me feel bad about myself for not wanting enough is scary. When I am satisfied with what I have, the society thinks that I’m a complacent person who will soon lose my competitive edge. When I do not feel the need to be ambitious, the society thinks that I’m a loser who never had the guts to dream big. When I derive more joy from what I currently do and not from the dreams I fervently pursue, the society thinks I am a boring person from whom no enduring lessons can be drawn. The society exploits your insecurity and emptiness to convince you that you cannot be happy the way you are.

But I am. Although I see nothing wrong with pursuing what you want and achieving it, I don’t see a reasonable need to want things that I genuinely do not just because everyone else does. If happiness is what we are after, and not wanting anything is one way to get closer to it, it must also be a justifiable and admirable way of life.